


Shotgun wedding

by Startanewdream



Series: Jily Lives AU [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, James Potter & Lily Evans Potter Live, Potter Family-centric (Harry Potter), Pre-Epilogue, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29306763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Startanewdream/pseuds/Startanewdream
Summary: Harry and Ginny will have a quick wedding, though not for the reasons people would expect.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Series: Jily Lives AU [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116542
Comments: 36
Kudos: 78





	1. Shotgun wedding

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ConstanceZin (Zinzino)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zinzino/gifts).



> This was based on an idea in the Jily Discord Server and it's only for pure Potter family fluff.

The ring seems to sparkle even if the two diamonds there are really tiny - or maybe it’s just the fact that Ginny can’t help but look at it every five minutes.

It doesn’t seem real yet. They are engaged, she and Harry.

It’s a little bit silly, because it’s not like anyone is actually surprised by their engagement. They’ve been dating steadily for four years now, surviving the long-distance relationship of her in Hogwarts and him on Auror training, then the mismatched turns when she was training for Holyhead Harpies and he was a Junior Auror and their time together was limited. And they live together.

Still, ever since she began her career as Quidditch Player, there was not a game where a reporter didn’t question her when she and Harry would tie the knot. She always ignored any question about her personal life - even learning that her Bat Bogey Hex didn’t seem to discourage people from asking. It was the only annoying thing in their lives.

It was no wonder that Harry had taken her on a short trip to a faraway place before kneeling in front of her - all classic like probably his dad had told him - and asking her if she would give him the huge honour of marrying him. Ginny had laughed happily - she hadn’t realized she wanted to properly marry him until that point - and had hugged and kissed him and assured him she very much would like to marry him.

After the celebration, when they were lying together in bed and Harry was playing with her hair absently (in a way that GInny feel they would still be like together sixty years in the future), they had talked about how they both wanted a quick wedding. Two weeks at most. A small wedding, only for family and close friends, in two weeks.

As far as Ginny gives a thought about it, the reporters can find out they have married when her new uniform says Potter instead of Weasley.

And fortunately for her, planning a wedding in two-weeks seems easy when she has the help of her future father-in-law.

‘ _ Finally!’,  _ James sings when she and Harry apparate in the Potter’s house. James was clearly expecting them in the porch of the house. ‘So?’, he looks from one to another, his hand passing nervously in his receding hair.

In answer, Ginny beams and raises her hand, showing the ring there.

‘YES!’, James cries, and then he is hugging them both, almost lifting them up in the air, and Harry laughs amusedly.

‘Come on, Dad’, he says, when James lets them go. ‘You are embarrassing me. It’s like you didn’t think she would accept.

‘Maybe he thought I had more sense’, Ginny teases, winking at James.

‘You dated me for years now, it’s obvious you don’t have’, Harry answers playfully, kissing her forehead, and Ginny sees James is beaming at them, his eyes almost teary. He looks like he is stopping himself from swooning at them.

‘This is like the happiest day ever’, he declares, opening the door to inviting them in. ‘Come on, Lily - well, maybe we should tell you together -’

‘You mean we should tell  _ her  _ the news?’, Harry asks, sounding confused. Then he smiles. ‘Let’s hope Mom is not as surprised as you’.

They find Lily sitting in the living room and Ginny sees she is knitting, singing to herself with a soft smile on her lips; Ginny had never seen her knitting anything before. It makes her think of her own mother.

She thinks there is something else different with Lily since the last time she saw her, more than two weeks ago; Lily has always been pretty, but today there seem to be something shining in her, as if she has an aura around her, like Fleur sometimes has.

It’s ethereally beautiful.

‘Harry, Ginny!’, she cries when she sees them, leaving the knit aside and raising to greet them. James is at her side instantly, supporting Lily as if she needs help, though for what Ginny can see Lily looks perfect well. ‘I would ask, but James’ cry could be heard in France. Come here, Ginny, let me see it!’

Ginny smiles, approaching Lily with her hand already raised.

‘Oh, it’s really beautiful!’, Lily says, looking at the ring. Then she hugs Ginny warmly. ‘I am so happy for you two!’

‘Yeah, yeah, we are all very happy’, James says, waving his hand dismissively. ‘Now, the important thing, have you thought about dates?’

‘Oh, yes’, Harry grins. ‘Two weeks from now’.

‘What?’, James looks nervous. ‘Harry - we can’t rush perfection, a big party in two weeks... there are places to see and I have thirteen options of buffet for you two choose -’

‘We just want a small celebration, really’, Ginny explains, watching the smile freeze in James’ face.

‘Yeah, we are already in the spotlight too much’, adds Harry, coming at her side and embracing Ginny. ‘We want something more intimate, just our closest friends. We thought of something at the Burrow, it’s spring so -’

‘But - fireworks and one thousand red roses and the Weird Sisters singing -’

‘James’, Lily interrupts him. ‘That’s their wedding, not yours’.

‘Oh, yeah, true’, James nods, still looking crestfallen. ‘I guess I can take only the basics of my wedding planner’.

‘You have a wedding planner?’, asks Ginny, not bothering to hide her chuckle. Harry rolls his eyes.

‘Don’t ask, but I think he keeps one since we first kissed’, he says. ‘Well, as long as you can organize in two weeks, we will accept your help’.

‘Hang on’, Lily looks from one to another, raising her eyebrows. ‘Why the rush?’

Harry shrugs.

‘It’s no rush, we just don’t want to feed gossip’.

‘There doesn’t seem to be much sense in a long engagement’, Ginny agrees. ‘A quick wedding, hopefully without any reporter knowing’.

‘And is there any reason for all the secret?’, Lily asks, exchanging a knowing look with James, who also raises his eyebrows, his mouth now open in an ‘oh’, clearly understanding what’s on Lily’s mind.

‘Yeah’, Harry says slowly. ‘I mean -’, he points at his own scar. ‘I don’t want paparazzi at our wedding’.

James and Lily breath out together, as if they are relieved at something, and Harry throws a confused look at Ginny, who giggles.

‘They thought we were having a shotgun wedding’, she explains amusedly. ‘You know, as if you had knocked me up’.

Harry laughs now too.

‘People can marry just because they are in love, you know?’, he says playfully. ‘Don’t worry, no one will be pregnant at the wedding’.

He turns to his parents, obviously expecting them to share the joke, but neither James and Lily are laughing. Now that Ginny looks at them, she sees they have the same expression: a mix of happiness and embarrassment, with a touch of pride in themselves.

There is something different there, that she knows. Ginny frowns, trying to the understand - there is the fact that Lily is glowing for some reason, and the way James seems overprotective of Lily and how their hands are clasped together in front of Lily’s belly.

Also, Lily’s cleavage seems really amazing, now she notices it.

‘ _ OH!’,  _ she exclaims without controlling herself. ‘Don’t tell me -’

Lily nods, grinning more than ever, with a sparkle of mischief that it suddenly makes sense for Ginny, considering what Lily is carrying right now. Or who she married.

‘Congratulations!’, she says, letting go of Harry’s hand to hug again both Lily and James. ‘Oh, God, this is so amazing!’

‘Gin?’, Harry asks, bewildered, looking from one to another. ‘What’s going on?’

Lily and James exchange an overjoyed look.

‘Well - we have some news too’, James says, his voice shaking with undeniable satisfaction. ‘You are going to be a big brother’.

Harry just blinks.

‘How?’

‘Harry’, Ginny calls him, coming again at his side, but he doesn’t seem to notice her for once. He looks so lost that Ginny takes pity on him, so she says gently: ‘Your parents are having a baby’.

‘But - how?’

‘Oh, James!’, Ginny laughs now. ‘I thought you gave Harry the talk’.

James nods, looking at Harry with evident amusement. ‘The usual way, Harry. It was not an immaculate conception, you know’.

‘But -’, Harry still looks like he is not understanding a word of what they are saying. ‘You - you are  _ old _ ’.

‘So kind’, James notes, rolling his eyes.

‘Your parents are barely in their forties, Harry’, Ginny remembers, but that doesn’t seem to clarify anything for him.

‘ _ Old _ ’, he repeats. ‘They couldn’t have - you know -  _ made a baby _ ’.

That makes Lily let out a sparkling laugh.

‘You are so innocent, Harry’, she says fondly.

‘I am pretty sure we could have’, James says confidently. ‘In fact, we already did. Six months from now you will have a little sister or a little brother’.

Harry gaps.

‘I will?’, he almost smiles, until he blinks fastly. ‘Wait, you really are three months pregnant?’

Lily nods, beaming once more. Harry is frowning.

‘So - three months ago - that trip to Italy -’

‘We did tell you it was like a second honeymoon’, James reminds him shamelessly.

‘But I thought you would do old people stuff - visit museums and cathedrals -’

‘We did all of it’, James shrugs. ‘And at the night - some glasses of wine -’

‘We didn’t need much wine’, Lily says teasingly, turning to James and winking at him. He smiles mischievously, kissing her softly in the lips - and then, when they seem to deepen the kiss, Harry coughs loudly.

‘Ok, I get it, you two have a  _ … life _ ’.

‘I think you meant sex life’, Ginny can’t help but tease, making him look at her with his eyes narrowed. She just blinks innocently. ‘Come on, you still didn’t say anything about it’.

‘About what?’

‘The fact you are going to be an older brother’.

‘Oh - I didn’t think about it - I -’

Harry seems lost at words. James and Lily exchange a look.

‘Maybe we should have talked slower?’, she whispers to him. 

‘I don’t know, I was an only kid too’.

‘I think we should have started by saying we will always love him’.

‘He is  _ twenty-one,  _ Lily, he knows it by now -’

‘Harry’, Ginny calls him again. ‘You are scaring them’.

‘I - I just -’, Harry bits his lips, looking nervously at his parents, before meeting Ginny’s gaze that he seems to deem as safer. ‘I  _ don’t know  _ how to be a brother’.

‘Oh, Harry’, Lily sighs, looking at him with fondness. ‘You are going to be an amazing brother, we are sure of it’.

‘Besides’, Ginny notes. ‘You have been taking care of my brother for ten years now, a baby will be much easier’.

‘Oh, yes’, James agrees. ‘Changing diapers, you’re going to love it’.

‘Teaching things’, says Lily, shaking her head at James with a smile on her lips. ‘Helping learn to walk. Hearing the first words. Seeing him or her growing up’.

‘Training for the future’, James adds, winking at Ginny, who blushes and rolls her eyes.

‘Get a grip, you two. Your baby can’t wait a few years until we think about turning them into an aunt or uncle’.

‘As long as it doesn’t take you too much -’

‘Unlike others, I think we will plan it’, Ginny notes, raising her eyebrows and, just as she expected, they both blush. She laughs. ‘I can’t believe you two had another unplanned kid’.

‘We did plan’, Lily says with dignity. ‘We just had planned for twenty years ago, but there was this dark lord problem -’

‘Mom?’, Harry asks very softly, drawing all their attention. ‘Am I  _ really  _ going to be a brother?’

There are tears shining in his green eyes. Lily looks at him tenderly, her own green eyes sparkling too, and she opens her arms.

‘Yes, son’, she whispers, and then Harry is hugging her. James comes to their side, his hand on Harry’s shoulder, and Ginny feels happiness flooding her at the sight of them together.

It’s - or it will officially be in two weeks - her family too.

Perhaps they seem to think so, because Lily opens her eyes, her hand motioning to her, and Ginny hugs them too.

‘Now’, James says when they break away, wiping away his tears. ‘Let’s plan your wedding, shall we?’

‘It’s good we are having a quick wedding’, Ginny teases. ‘Imagine how outrageous it would be if we took longer’.

‘The mother-in-law pregnant? Oh, how scandalous!’, James agrees, grinning. ‘I’ll be back with the wedding planner, just a moment!’

‘The second good thing is that Dad will have to keep things modest’, Harry notes, sitting right next to Ginny.

‘Ha!’, James laughs. ‘You wish. I have things rented for  _ years  _ just waiting for the right moment’.

Harry throws a look at Ginny that seems to say ‘What did I tell you?’, but she just grins. She never expected anything less of James Potter.

‘So -’, she begins, turning to Lily, who is back at knitting what Ginny thinks it will be a baby bootie. ‘Did you think about names yet?’


	2. Mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s not really an unplanned pregnancy if you planned it once - even it was twenty years ago, right?
> 
> Or the road leading to James and Lily’s baby number two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this a companion piece to the 'Shotgun wedding', I'm posting here as a chapter.
> 
> Also, this time there it's mentioned expressly that Sirius and Remus are alive, since I've already written how it would be if Sirius died (and it's just too sad).
> 
> Safety warning for mentions of **sex** , since that's how babies are born.

They are in bed, Lily’s head over his chest while he caresses her hair, both still recovering their breaths when she first talks about it.

‘How do you feel about another?’

James raises his eyebrows.

'I don’t know if I should be happy you enjoyed so much you already want more or if I should be concerned you are not satisfied, Lily’.

'What? No -’ she giggles, turning in bed to stare at him, her auburn hair floating around her. 'I meant about another child’.

James is silent for a few seconds, considering it.

'So that means you are _not_ satisfied’.

She rolls her eyes, but James can see the amusement in her face.

'In bed with you, yes, I am’, she assures, placing a soft kiss on his chest, over his heart. 'But about kids, I’ve been thinking about it’.

James bits his lips.

'You know how I feel about it’, he whispers. 'I hated so much being an only child that I found myself brothers as soon as I could’.

'Yeah, and you did propose to me mentioning how you would like a house full of kids - enough to fill a Quidditch team, if I remember correctly’.

'I was _babbling_ , afraid you were going to refuse me! You know you can’t use someone’s desperate proposal against him’.

She smiles softly.

'So you don’t want a bunch of children?’

He touches her hair once more, keeping his eyes on the auburn strands, and it comes to his mind that he would like a child with that gorgeous hair of her.

'I do. Maybe not seven, but I don’t want Harry to be an only child. It’s just -’

He doesn’t finish, but James knows he doesn’t need to. Harry is just fifteen months old, an unplanned child in the middle of a war they are not close to winning and, truth be told, if James and Lily had more sense, they would not have one child, let alone another one.

And there is the fact that their only son is already too much involved in this war.

'Hey’, she cups his face. 'Let’s plan together’.

There is a pleading tone in her voice, and he knows that what Lily is asking is hope - for better days, for a time where they can have more children without worrying about what will happen to them.

He looks back at her and when their eyes meet, his heart beats faster. It should be silly considering what they were doing minutes ago and how he possibly cried in very colourful words that he loved her, but this is one of those moments where time seems to stop and he realizes, with a wave of electricity running through his body, with a certainty that leaves room for no doubt, that he loves her with all he has.

That’s why they are together, that’s why he asked her to marry him. Not because he feared for the future, not because he was desperate to enjoy as much time with her as they had left.

But because he loved her since what seems forever now, and he won’t deny any hope for Lily, not when he’s been living on it.

He kisses her softly.

'Let’s plan’, he agrees. ‘I think… maybe four kids would be nice. Two boys, two girls’.

She smiles.

'Well, we can’t plan _that_ ’. Then Lily throws him a knowing look. 'You are thinking about forming a new group of Marauders, aren’t you?’

He smiles unabashedly.

'Just think about family photos. Each one of our kids dresses as one of the Marauders. It would be the cutest thing ever’.

Her eyes shine, seeing beyond him.

'It would. Fine, four kids. We will need a bigger house’.

'We can expand the house, you know. My dad always said he thought of creating a new wing here; there is plenty of land’.

'Two rooms to begin with. They can share until they are older’.

‘Sirius always slept in my room when he came over’, James remembers fondly. ‘We almost burnt the house once or twice, I must warn you’.

‘Consider me warned. Petunia and I had separate rooms, but when I was younger -’, she pauses suddenly, and James can see the concern on her face. ‘What if they don’t like each other?’, she whispers.

‘They will’.

‘You can’t know for sure, I mean - you see how Petunia is with me. And Sirius can’t even talk about Regulus, what if -’

‘You are worrying too much, Lily’, he says gently, kissing the top of her head. ‘Maybe they will best friends, maybe they won’t. But I’m sure they will be family no matter what’.

She looks thoughtfully, but after a minute she nods.

‘What about next year? Harry will be two, it’s a good age gap’.

‘It would be nice. We can start practising now if you want’.

‘I thought we already did’, Lily winks at him. ‘But we can repeat tomorrow’.

‘Halloween fun?’, he smirks. ‘Will you be wearing a costume?’

‘Only if you do - and no, your antlers headband doesn’t count’.

He pouts, making her giggle and kiss him until his expression relax.

‘Hey, Lily’, he calls her, his voice resounding with the hope he associates with her. ‘Let’s have another child’.

* * *

When Harry is five and he starts Muggle school, it comes to James that his son has been lacking other kids in his life. It’s not that he is lonely - he couldn’t be, not with James and Lily always there for him, not with the almost daily visits from Sirius and Remus, but he suddenly wishes there were more children in the house.

Now, he can’t count on Sirius or Remus to help him with it - both of them seem to avoid relationships like the plague, though for different reasons -, so he rounds Lily while she is in her office preparing a potion.

‘James?’, she calls surprised, when his arms embrace her from behind and he kisses her exposed neck (James loves when Lily is making potions because she keeps her hair on a bun and he has a weak spot for her neck). ‘This will explode if I don’t stir it’.

‘Let it explode’.

‘It’s a Draught of Living Death, we will turn into zombies if -’

‘Let’s make a baby’.

That makes her take her wand to freeze the potion and turn to him, with a fond amused smile.

‘Is that a weird way of asking for sex? If so - you used better lines before’.

‘No, I mean, sex is good too and most necessary, but I mean it, Lily. Let’s try for another kid’.

Lily blinks.

‘Why now?’

‘Why not now? Harry is still young, we are definitively young, what’s keeping us from having more?’

She bits her lip, thoughtful, and James feels suddenly dismayed.

‘Unless you don’t want anymore?’

‘It’s not that, I want it - it’s just, with everything that happened -’

‘I know, it slipped out of my mind too. But now, we are living in this peace for a while…’

‘But it won’t last, will it?’, she whispers as if she feels guilty of even thinking about it. ‘Dumbledore says he isn’t really dead and when he returns -’

‘Maybe he will stay hidden forever, maybe he is too weak to try anything’.

She smiles sadly.

‘Every time I look at Harry’s scar I know that something will happen, James. That’s not a normal scar, that means something, and I get scared’.

‘Hey’, he hugs her. ‘As long as we are together, we can face anything - didn’t we prove that before?’

‘Yeah, but - is it fair? To put someone innocent in the middle of our mess?’

‘It was not fair with Harry, but we managed. We can do it again’.

‘James…’

Lily looks at him and James sees she is not convinced, not really; he knows Lily enough to understand that she is rational - she likes to think first, whereas James is always the more impulsive. They complement each other. He takes her to fly, she remembers him to come back to the ground.

And he understands what she means, even if he wishes things were different.

‘You are right’, he sighs. ‘At least for now, until we see how things really are’.

She smiles, touching his face with fondness.

‘I want it, I really do. Don’t forget it’.

James kisses her hand on his face.

‘I won’t. In fact, if you want to start _practising_ now -’

* * *

It’s just because the house is empty now that Harry is off to Hogwarts that the subject returns; they don’t exactly talk about it. James just sees Lily is not taking her potions anymore - they look at each other, understanding passing between them (one of the benefits of being married for over ten years) - and then suddenly and simply as that they are _trying_.

It feels a little weird to actually hope for once that something comes out of their moments together, but it’s Lily. He forgets everything when he is with her, focusing on just enjoying her company and touches and how they made each other feel.

But time passes and nothing happens. It’s been only three months, it’s nothing unusual, and Lily mentions seeing a doctor when the owl comes to tell them how someone jinxed Harry’s broom on his first Quidditch match.

That doesn’t seem like a good sign.

When they return home months after, in June, after seeing Harry all bandaged in the hospital, after hearing him talking about coming face to face with Voldemort, they don’t say anything. He buys the herbs for Lily and she is not surprised when he gives them to her.

There is no need to talk about it.

* * *

Most of the time their lives are full of things happening and Harry is always at the centre of a storm, so when James thinks about it, Lily was right. He can’t imagine facing dementors and going back to the Order with a young child to be cared for.

He can’t imagine how their child would be a target, how vulnerable and defenceless their child would be, without a love protection, without a prophecy somehow binding its fate. They made the right choice of postponing their second child.

That’s the rational part of him that suddenly vanishes the moment he sees Lily holding baby Teddy Lupin in her arms for the first time, that cute fat baby that giggles at her, closing his eyes for a minute - and then his blue hair turns as red as hers and his eyes are bright green.

It’s like a mini-Lily and suddenly James wishes more than ever that this war is over soon - or that it had never even begun because he can see that other life, the one where there was no Voldemort. Instead, James and Lily’s lives are filled with more children, happy shining kids whose worst problems are passing their school exams and not _surviving_. The life he always wanted for Harry.

His eyes meet Lily’s and she smiles at him, offering him to hold Teddy. It’s been forever since James held a baby, but he still remembers, not really forgetting all these nights he took care of Harry. Teddy is a quiet baby, smiling at him too, his hand raised to try to grab his glasses.

‘He is perfect’, he whispers, looking to Remus. His friend is beaming - James understands that happiness that comes with holding your child for the first time, with seeing that miracle in the shape of a baby that you swear to protect with all your heart.

‘Of course he is’, Tonks says cheerfully, while Remus hugs her, holding her close to him as if he doesn’t believe he gets to be this happy.

James understands also the feeling of living that light bright moment right after coming out of the darkness. There is nothing like that.

He returns Teddy to Tonks when he starts to whimper for his mother, and then he looks at Lily.

Her green eyes are filled with longing for a life they promised themselves they would have, and also a little bit of hurt. How did they lose sight of their dreams?

They both know the answer but it’s not a comfort.

Later, when they apparate back to their hiding place - a sorry little apartment where they pretend to be a normal boring couple -, they don’t wait to turn out the lights and they don’t say anything before their lips are meeting, and it’s desperate and rough as it has not been for a long time.

Somehow James feels like they are making up for a lost time that won’t go anywhere and that they can’t retrieve anyway.

It doesn’t matter.

When they first married all they had was their love and dreams. They still love each other and for those dreams - they will accomplish them.

* * *

They never speak out loud but somehow in the aftermath of the last battle, it feels right that they get a new beginning just as everyone else is having.

It’s all about rebuilding - Hogwarts, then the wizarding world - the Ministry, the Aurors, organising a system that was clearly outdated - and their home. It’s a long process and in the middle of it, they forget about worrying, about planning; they just go with the flow and somehow it works without they even meaning to.

Lily has this weird expression on her face, one that seems to mix disbelief and amazement as she turns to him one morning and says as if the most natural thing:

‘James? I think I’m pregnant’.

That’s the first difference from their first time. Now he is the one that leaves for the pharmacy while Lily prepares a potion - they will test twice, just to be sure - and they are together while they wait for both tests to tell them if her feelings were right on the spot.

They are.

There are two lines on the muggle pregnancy test and the potion turns blue and suddenly like that they know they will be parents again.

She hugs him then, her eyes filled with tears of pure joy, laughing when she sees James is really crying now.

‘I love you so much!’, he declares brightly, kissing every part of her face that he can (but with care, because a pregnant Lily always seems fragile to him, no matter the fact he knows this is not true). 

And it feels that this is what he should have done the first time, when she first told him about Harry. They should be happy only. No worries. That’s the second difference.

There are parallels too, James thinks. Harry’s shock at the idea his parents will have a baby reminds him of Sirius’ reaction as if he can’t possibly understand how that happened (somehow, despite running into them a couple of times, Sirius still got shocked with the fact they made _sex_ ). Lily is as sick as in her first pregnancy, so the first months are mostly spent at home too.

And just like back then, Sirius comes to visit her every day he can, careful to bring her anything she may want to eat and offering massage to her feet that Lily doesn’t need to, but she enjoys anyway.

‘I can still see my feet, Padfoot’, she replies teasingly, lying lazily on the couch of the living room while Sirius’ hands work their magic on her right foot. James winks at her.

‘Just enjoy, Lily. He is trying to get into your good graces. He wants to be named godfather again’.

Sirius nods unabashedly, grinning at her. 

‘Remus is the next in line’, Lily says, shrugging. ‘But keep with that massage and we will think about you if baby number three ever comes’.

‘Still without a name for baby number two?’

‘You need to stop calling young Prongslet by numbers’, James scolds without any malice.

‘We are not calling Prongslet either, James’.

‘Of course not, Lily. It will be Elvendork’.

Lily rolls her eyes.

‘Not this again’.

‘It’s _unisex_!’

They indeed refer to their baby as Elvendork just because it’s easier than calling “it” or “baby”, and Harry throws confused looks at them, looking concerned that his new brother or sister will really be called that, though Lily assures him this won’t happen.

But the truth is that they really have not decided on a name, haven’t even discussed yet seriously until they return from the doctor with the news it’s a girl (James cried with this news just as he cries every time they go to the doctor and he hears the baby’s heartbeat or even that shape in the ultrasound that it’s not really discernible).

They are on the bed, with James looking wondrously at Lily’s now round belly and imagining their little girl (maybe that mini-Lily he once thought of, maybe a little Harry, maybe a little James - it doesn’t matter, he already loves her), when he whispers: ‘We _can’t_ call her Elvendork’.

Lily throws him a surprised look.

‘Oh, no! Poor Elvendork!’

He is too enamoured with her to retort.

‘Did you think of any names?’

‘I have a list of names’, she admits. ‘But none of them feels right’.

They go together through her list; there are beautiful, weird and creative types of names, but as Lily said, none seems to fit yet.

Of course, they don’t lack ideas. Everyone seems to have an opinion.

Sirius is all for the stars, of course (but James thinks he is teasing, though some of them sound nice), and Harry suggests female heroes.

‘What about your mothers?’, Remus suggests, when he and Dora come over for dinner. Lily is sitting on the couch, playing with Teddy. The boy is four now, and he seems fascinated by Lily’s big belly - he had been too young when Fleur was pregnant with Victoire, so this is the first time he is really seeing a pregnant woman and understanding what it means.

Teddy already refers to the baby as his little cousin, sounding proud and excited to meet her.

‘Rose would be a good name’, Lily muses, but still it doesn’t seem to be what she is looking for.

At this time, with only a month away until their baby is born, James considers they are hoping that looking at her face will be enough after the birth - if not, he will just cry the first name that comes to his mind when they sign her birth certificate.

He only hopes he manages not to sign Elvendork. Lily would kill him.

‘I wouldn’t go for Euphemia’, he declares, shrugging.

‘As someone who has an outdated name, I second that’, Dora says, grinning at him.

But Lily looks at both of them with her brows furrowed, and James knows there is something on her mind. She doesn’t say anything until they are alone later.

‘You know, I think Remus might have the right idea’.

‘Liked Rose after all?’

‘No, actually, I thought about your mother’.

Thinking of his mother brings to James that smell of fresh-baked pie, the warmth of her hugs - she had always been there for him, to listen and to guide him - and not just him. She had been a mother to Sirius too and even to Lily in the few months they had together before she passed away.

He smiles softly.

‘I miss her, but Euphemia is not - ‘

‘It doesn’t have to be Euphemia. Your father called her Mia, right? We can do something like that’.

‘Mia Potter?’

‘I thought of Amelia. And we could call her Mia, for short. Like Teddy or Ginny’.

‘Mia Potter’, he repeats, savouring the words.

‘Amelia Rose Potter? In honour of both grandmothers?’

James beams, hugging Lily and letting his hand feel her belly. ‘I love it’.

The baby seems to like it too, because in the next second Lily is wincing and James feels the baby kicking.

‘You know what, Lily? I think Mia will be a great Quidditch player too’.

She sighs exaggeratedly.

‘I only wish she could wait to start training when she is out’.

* * *

Because fate sometimes is funny, Mia Potter is born on Halloween Night and the first time James holds her he is wearing an antlers headband that he forgot to take off and that no one warned him about.

Later he will probably hex Sirius when he teases him about it, but right now he just sits next to Lily on her hospital bed, and she beams at him despite her tiredness.

‘We did it’, she whispers, sounding amazed, and James understands the feeling. They are in their forties, they lived through two wars, they raised a magnificent young man and here they are holding their second child, a tiny baby who seems unbelievably perfect in every sense.

 _One minute,_ James thinks. _Let us enjoy this one minute, just a little._

When the minute is over, he returns the sleeping Mia to Lily’s arms and goes to open the door. Harry is pacing in front of the door, looking as agitated as James felt all during the labour, even though he never left Lily’s side.

‘So? Can I see my sister now?’

‘And my goddaughter?’, Sirius pops in, grinning. James laughs.

‘It’s _Remus_ ’ goddaughter, and, yes, you can come in. She is sleeping’.

They get around the bed, with Sirius hugging Lily and declaring her the most amazing woman in the world ( _‘Are you drunk, Padfoot?’ ‘Yes, I was nervous! ‘You won’t hold Mia until you are sober’_ ), and with Harry touching the thin strands of dark hair on his sister’s head, looking at her as if it’s the most precious thing he has ever seen.

James thinks he was wrong about that selfish minute he spent alone with Lily and Mia. Seeing Harry and Sirius cooing about the baby, he realizes this is the kind of one minute he wishes to have more in his life.

‘Do you want to hold her?’, Lily offers, and Harry nods, unable to look away. He sits on the chair right beside the bed and James helps him hold his sister. She wakes up, crying, and for a moment Harry seems to be in panic until he raises and swings her softly, just like he used to do with his godson.

‘Hi, Mia’, Harry whispers. ‘That’s ok. There, there. I’m your big brother, you see? I’m here for you’.

There is a soothingly effect on Harry’s voice and after a few minutes, Mia seems to relax indeed, her crying turning into a sob that seems to be more because of the unfamiliar world she is now in than anything else.

‘She has your eyes, Dad’, Harry says, smiling. James looks back at his daughter and, more than the hazel colour that looks a lot like his, he sees the way she seems to be curious about her surroundings as if she wants to see all the world has to offer.

Mia has indeed his eyes.

* * *

Mia is three when Ginny calls her and Mia comes with an expression of guilt that tells James she has done something she shouldn’t. That doesn’t really surprise him. He saw his daughter running with Teddy and Victoire and whenever those three are together, something always seems to happen.

Most of the time involving some kind of petty mischief that gives James very much hope for his daughter.

‘It was not my fault’, Mia declares, looking sheepish. 

‘I am sure it was Teddy’s’, Harry says, sharing a grin with James, because whenever they are discovered, Teddy always declares himself to be the guilty one, even though James can see exactly when it was Victoire (with her exuberant ideas) or Mia (with her direct-to-the-point ideas), clearly feeling it’s his role as the older of them.

‘It’s okay, Mia’, Ginny assures her tenderly, offering her arms and Mia doesn’t hesitate to go sit on her lap.

Mia loves her parents, adores Harry but it’s Ginny that she worships. Like with the broomstick: Mia learnt to fly at one like Harry, who gave her her first broom, but it was just last summer when they took her to watch a Quidditch game, where Ginny had scored sixteen goals that Mia had declared she wanted to be a Chaser when she grew up.

James had shaken his head in fake dismay at the fact his daughter had not been impressed with his Quidditch skills, but he didn’t really mind: any reason he could to spend afternoons flying with her was good for him.

'We have something to tell you’, Ginny says under Mia’s concentrated look. Lily exchanges a smile with James; they already know, but hearing it again just makes them happier than words could describe. 'You are going to be an aunt’.

She blinks.

'Like you are?’

Ginny smiles.

'Do you know what an aunt is?’

'I know that Vic calls you Aunt, but Teddy calls you Ginny’.

'Well, I am Vic’s aunt because Vic’s father is my brother’.

'Like Harry is my brother’.

'Yes, so you are going to be an aunt because Harry will have a son or daughter’.

'Oh!’ she looks at his brother, clasping her hands. 'With whom?’

'With me’, Ginny explains while everyone laughs. 'Harry and I will have a baby’.

'Oh. Like Aunt Fleur had Dominique?’

'Exactly’.

'I like babies’, Mia declares. 'Where is the baby? I want to meet him!’

'In a few months. He or she is still… not ready’.

'Oh’. Mia seems upset, then she shrugs. 'Can I play outside until it's ready?’

Ginny laughs and places a kiss on Mia’s cheek.

'Sure. We will call you when it’s time’.

'Mia’, Lily calls, sounding amused. 'Do you know how Harry takes care of you?’. Mia nods. 'That’s what an aunt does too’.

'Can I take the baby to the park too?’

'When he is older’, James assures her. Mia smiles, her hazel eyes sparkling.

‘I will be the best aunt ever’, she declares, and then she is running outside (Mia can’t walk - she only knows how to run), back to Teddy and Victoire.

James watches her through the window, talking excitedly to them, probably telling them all about her news.

'I think you will have a handful with them in the future’.

'Me?’, Harry laughs. 'If McGonagall doesn’t retire by the time your _child and grandchild_ are both in Hogwarts, I will be surprised’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mia's name came from @blitheringmcgonagall cute and amazing stories of Mia and Monty Potter, and the final scene is some sort of answer to @dear-james‘s prompt of James and Lily knowing about James Sirius.

**Author's Note:**

> Suggestions of names will be accepted by James and Lily 😉 😂


End file.
